Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 123 2nd International Conference on Education, Sports, Arts and Management Engineering (ICESAME 2017) The Spread and Influence of Oratorio “Messiah” by Handel in China Chunli Ruan College of Art, Xiamen University, Xiamen Fujian 361005, China Key words: Oratorio, Messiah, spread, performance, acceptance Abstract: Handel’s “Messiah” is the most famous oratorio in the history of western music. It enjoys tremendous popularity since its birth in 1742 and is regarded as the most excellent oratorio in the history. Since the beginning of the last century, in China, all or partial parts of the oratorio are being staged increasingly. However, the performance history in China is not paid close attention. This paper attempts to describe and analyze the performance situation and acceptance process of this piece in China from the perspective of history, so as to provide a case reference for the study and spread of the western religious music in China. It is well known that George Friedrich Handel (from 1685 to 1759) is regarded as one of the music masters who enjoys the equal popularity with J. S. Bach by the later generations. He is also one of the representatives for the most prominent western Baroque composer. He is the composer of “Messiah”, which is taken as an oratorio to be played by maximum times (including the versions in English and other languages). It is also regarded as a sacred music which is known well by the Christians. The playscript of this piece is mainly drawn the materials from the Bible to display the process of crucifixion, resurrection and ascension experienced by Jesus who was sent by God from the heaven to the earth. According to the records, Handel only spent 24 days to complete this classic works, which is divided into three parts, namely overture, aria, recitative, duets, chorus, interlude and other music forms, totally 53 tracks. The oratorio “Messiah” is the pinnacle of Handel’s music creation, which gives full play to Handel’s vibrant and brilliant chorus drama style with charming colors of epic. Among these works, the passionate aria, the dramatic recitative and chorus have reached Baroque’s vertex with magnificent style. The whole works is bright, positive and is full of passionate loud. Thus, it was deeply loved by the audiences. Among these works, the “Alleluia”, “For unto us a child is born” and other chorus arias are even adopted frequently and known well by many large and small chorus and chant team for rehearsal and performance purposes. Besides, it has also become a treasure in chorus literature. From the historical development point of view, the period that the western music was introduced to China is not long, as this is closely related with the political and cultural conservatism of the Chinese society and the differences between eastern and western countries in religious music. Till today, “Messiah”, as a oratorio with western religion as the theme to be staged repeatedly and accepted by the majority of Chinese audiences, this is a very interesting music phenomenon under the situations of the differences between Chinese and western cultural backgrounds. Introduction The specific time for introduction of the oratorio “Messiah” to China has been unable to be confirmed from the historical musical research. From the introduction history of the western music in China, the western “music sage”, Beethoven’s music performance in China was shown earliest in 1906, and Li Shutong, who was the first person to introduce Beethoven’s music to China. At the Copyright © 2017, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). 1128 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 123 same time, with the end of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China, the new schools have been rapidly developed, and the western humanism education thought has also been further introduced. [1] We can infer that, along with the strong influence of the western civilization, the oratorio “Messiah” and other excellent music works may be introduced to China at the beginning of the 20th century, the period when the Qing Dynasty is about to come to its end. Then, in view of this, the performance history of this works in China is about one hundred years and it can be roughly divided into the following four stages: The earliest record for the performance of “Messiah” is in 1919, which was shown in the annals of history for Yenching University that was co-established by four American and British Christian Churches in Beijing, China. It was said that there are the traditions for the performance of “Messiah” inside the university or the public performance in Beijing Hotel. After that, in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities in 1920’s and 1930’s, this works has also been successively staged. For example, the chorus established by teachers and students from Yenching University has one hundred and fifty people, who were led by Doctor Bliss Wiant, Bliss Wiant (1895-1975) was educated at Wittenberg College and Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A. 1920), Boston University (M.A. 1936), and Peabody College (Ph.D. 1946). He also studied at Harvard University and Union Theological Seminary, New York City After ordination (1923), Wiant became head of the music department at Yenching University, Peking (1923-1951). He was pastor of St. Paul’s Church, Delaware, Ohio (1953-1955), then minister of music at Mahoning Methodist Church, Youngstown, Ohio. After serving with the Methodist Board of Education, he became director of music at Scarritt College. He is the director of the musical department for multiple performance (generally, it is performed as an excerpt of a complete concert and done in English with piano accompaniment, with Chinese and foreign singers as the vocal solo). This is maintained till 1941, the time the Pacific War was broke out and the performance was interrupted as well. The “Messiah” with Bliss Wiant as the bandmaster chose mostly Mrs. Wilson, professor of the vocal music department as the alto solo. The famous scholar Mei Yibao and musician and linguist Li Baochen also acted as bass part of choir in singing “Messiah” when they were studying in Yenching University. [2] In the late 1930’s, the “Messiah” performance in China has been gradually familiar and accepted by Chinese audiences. For example, On December 22, 1935, one of the Chinese most professional orchestras with highest expertise and completest formation, the municipal orchestra of the Republic of China cooperated with Shanghai singing club to give a special concert performance of “Messiah”. [3] at the Lyceum Theater to celebrate Jesus’s birthday. (2) The performance status in the middle stage (from the postwar period to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China) On December 20, 22 and 23, 1947, namely the post-victory of Anti-Japanese War, Nanjing Union ST. Orchestra gave three performances of “Messiah” in Jinling university’s auditorium, which is the biggest performance in the Chinese modern history. At that time, Nanjing Union ST. Orchestra is co-established by more than 200 students from the National Academy of Music, the National Central University, the Capital Choir, the Nanking Theological Seminary, Jinling Women’s College of Arts and Sciences and Jinling Women’s University. After months of preparatory training and with Chinese Orchestra having double compilation (include more than 40 musicians), the performance was completed successfully. The performance was donated by the 1129 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 123 celebrities such as Song Meiling, Chen Lifu, Zhang Daofan, Zhang Qun, Wu Bochao, Wu Yifang, Zhu Jiahua, Lang Yuxiu and others. Besides, Sun Ke also served as the master of ceremonies in the performance. From the lineup at that time, they are all talented personnel and prestigious. The baton was Lin Shengxi, composer, music educator and professor from Hong Kong; the vocal solo was Zhou Xiaoyan, soprano singer for coloratura who was considered as the “golden oriole in China”, she made prominent contribution to the development of vocal music in China (she was also awarded as the lifetime tenured professor in Shanghai Conservatory of Music). Besides, Sun Jiasheng, Zheng Xiuling, Zheng Xiaoying, Zang Yuyan, Wen Kezheng, Wei Qixian and others have all become the well-known figures in the Chinese music scene afterwards. Li Guoquan, served as concertmaster in the past, has also become the famous musician in 1950’s and 1960’s. On December 28, 1947, St. John’s university student choir, for the purpose of celebrating the Christmas, sung Handel’s Messiah in the afternoon in Wuyuan Road Church, with Chen Renbing as the command. [3] In December 1948, Messiah was officially premiered in Taiwan for the first time in Taipei Zhongshan Hall. Although the scale was not large, the show was not discontinuous after that. Before 1957, the joint chorus was established by various church’s choirs in Taipei; after 1957, it was led by the newly established youth association in Taipei. Lin Heyin and Wang Peilun, the band commanders for the first Messiah performance in Taiwan; Sun Shaoru, the vocal solo of this performance; Zhu Yongzhen, the bass of this performance (he is also the father of Zhu Taili, the soprano). Among them, the soprano Zheng Xiuling had the opportunity to sing in two historical events which was held at the same time in Nanjing as chorus member in the previous day and soprano in Taipei in the second day. After the founding of new China, in 1953, the Chinese translation of the full text of chorus [4]score for “Messiah” was firstly published.